While King Leopold will undoubtedly continue to have criticisms levelled against him on the subject of his surrender to the Ger-"mans $0 shortly after the invasion of his some of his friends have been en-to put his case before the world at large. Notably Mr. John Cudahy, former "American, Ambassador to Belgium, whose "much publicized defence of King Leopold was expressed in the following terms:—Put briefly, King Leopold's position could Be explained as follows:—"Supposing you are in command of an army of half a million, and mingling with that army is half a Million or more howling, panic-stricken civil-jan refugees, who have been swept up from the south and east by the invading Germans.
You reach a point where every hour you hold out means the sacrifice of human life, and "you wonder what can be gained by further Tesistance. Suppose you have found that nothing can be gained for your army or for your allies, and you say to yourself, 'I shall be guilty of the taking of human life if I persist in this position; and so decide, as a man of Christian conscience, that you have nothing else to do but to surrender. That was the position the King was in, and it will be shown by the facts when the facts are known."
Mr. Cudahy makes the point that the German war technique, of forcing civilians tò flee, and so hamper the movements of the dete: army, was applied in Belgium as it was later in France, and as France was Itimately forced to surrender so also had been. It is' just as well that the formed in the heat of the original disappointment should in the circumstances undergo some revision, while there nat be some criticism of the policy which made no plans based assistance known to be forthcoming e Allies in the event of a German of the fact that the authorities to make such dispositions as prevented the civilian panic, tion of the improvised plans made after the German onslaüght had become an accomplished fact. King Leopold appears, therefore, in the light of the facts which have come out since his first condemnation, in not so unfavourable a light as it was first believed.
This view is supported by the latest reports concerning his conduct while in German custody. Despite every endeavour, every sort of temptation given him to do so, King Leopold has steadily refused to play the German game. As a correspondent to "The Times," who was lately in Belgium, writes, Leopold will not yield allegiance to the new order of things. He is the ace of trumps in the German political pack of cards, and is regarded by his custodians as the key to the Belgian situation. If he cond only be persuaded to accept responsibility and form a Government under German dictation the way in the future would be simple. The Belgian Government now in Britain has little following, and the King, in German eyes is the only alternative. But he has consistently refused to cooperate in any way with his conquerors, despite all kinds of political and persond pressure which have been brought to bear upon him, including promises of a future free Belgium, when the Hitler victory is assured, with suitable compensation in the north of France for the coastal strip which it is intended to form into a German province.
As the correspondent referred to says "So lar the trump card has refused to be played, and as long as he continues to refuse German plans for Belgium are doomed to failure." King Leopold's actions subsequent to the collapse of his resistance have therefore, been completely correct. His refusal to have anything to do with furthering German intentions, or to assist them in any way completely frees him of any of the charges which were originally made that he had in fact "sold out" to the enemy. In Belgium, as in Holland, the national will to regain freedom is very much alive, and it is strengthened by the uncompromising attitude of the King. It is more than a little desirable that these facts should be as widely known as were the original charges against the Belgian monarch, and there is every reason to believe that the verdict of history on the surrender of the Belgian army will not present an unfortunate man in the black colours with which his contemporaries, possibly innocently enough, painted him.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.